Thursday, October 13, 2011

On a very hot day, if you happen to be in a city which can offer you a view of some snow covered mountain (like Granada, with its Sierra Nevada mountains) or a city offering you a view of the sea (like Tel Aviv with its Mediterranean sea) , then chances are you'll psychologically and even physically feel a little better, cooler.

The other day I had some business to attend to on Geula street in Tel Aviv. It was hot and humid, but as I entered the street and saw the sea at the other end of it I felt as if the sea breeze was reaching and caressing me. It was all I needed at that moment.

beach

This street is placed between two very long, parallel streets: a central, commercial, busy street (Allenby street) and the beach street with its big hotels (Hayarkon street) that runs parallel to the sea. It has a mixture of old, new, and renovated buildings , some shops, and two four-star hotels :Abratel and Savoy.

old building at Allenby-Geula corner

Geula street ('Geula' meaning Redemption) has a story which revolves around a former small hotel named Savoy, located at a very short distance from the beach. In 1975 a group of terrorists came by sea, at night, and took control of the hotel, its guests and staff. A counter-terrorism unit was sent to the place. The terrorists were killed and one taken prisoner, but there were also eleven victims in the action: seven guests, the porter of the hotel, and three soldiers, one of them a highly ranked officer .

In 2008, a brand new four-star hotel was built on the place of the old one. Its front bears a plaque which tells the above story mentioning the names of the victims.